Flexible device



Malh 261% 1946. H GHEZVET A'L 2,397,415

FLEXIBLE DEVICE I Filed Aug. 20, 1942 llJ l II l Il ll /ll l INVENTORY.'` Henry Chez Oscar 'hez Patented Mar. 26, 1946 -tlNl 'lll-ED STATES PAT T O'FfllCgE .FLEXIBLE DEVICE '-Henry-Ghez andscar GhemNew York; -N.'Y.

.ApplicationfAugust 20, 19.42,--Serial--No. 455,424

-1l cnam. (c1. i6-157) The present linventionrelates Ato ileX-ible devices'which include or have incorporated in their structures one or 'more resilient `members'made ofinormally .stii material which.l is :rendered nexible by being partly slotted from tvvosides thereof.

The main Aobject of our `inventionzis to 'produce .la resilient structure Ywhich is rcapable of `taking -many forms and being modied in lmaable on the market.

Other objects and y' the advantages inherent. in our invention randiaccruing Afrom its actual application in practice `will appear Amore fully Vin detail as this specication proceeds.

In order to facilitate readycomprehensionof the invention, thesame is illustratedin several forms in the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in -Which like parts are vdesignated `by like numerals, and in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates-in perspectiveamat orar- 4ticle .embodying 4the invention, .and .including .means for limitingflexure to .preventbreakage .Fig.-.2 .is alongitudinal section .of themat of Fig. 1 as takenv online ..2-.2,.withthe.mat bentor curved to showthe ilexure .thereof limited by a feature of its construction. Y

Fig. l3. is a transverse section .of `the same as taken on line3-3 in Fig. .1.

.Fig 4 is,.a..transverse sectionsimilar to'Fig l showing a modication.

.l Fig. 5 isfafsimilar section of a further modification.

In the eld of toys and even in practical fields it has often been considered necessary in order to produce a resilient article, to utilize rubber, at least for portions thereof in order to introduce resiliency into the construction. However, if the cost of rubber is prohibitive and such material is almost unobtainable, it is preferable to utilize available materials which are normally rather stiff and perhaps almost rigid, While rendering the same resilient by means of a special system of alternated slots or cuts disposed transversely of the longitudinal axis of the article involved.

yond .the slots .2 and V.3.

.Suchtreatment .of .the -'normally..stiff material r is yintended `to lconvert the same virtually into a springend thus opens -a newffleldwhich Ewillinthe member I :but stop.. short A:of .the-opposite side edge A6 .fwhile .thetether-series. of'..s1ots 3-4e`xtend fromV edge 5'. inwardly; across member I andstop short of l edge 5. fAs .shown slots-.2 are fin. alternate arrangement with slots .,3, along the length ofthe material and may be-.generallypel'pendicuIartO-the, longitudinal axis of membeil.r .Slots 2 vand13 thus permitlexureat tharemainingfportions 1 and voftthe material ,Whichremaimbeas a Wholegmay .benexedand willthereforebehave in a similar ,fashionto a thin mat of ,cellulose acetate or Celluloid, oneven/of rubber,.thus

.age will verylikely-,result Hencev ameans'for ,preventingbreakageis alsoshownln Figs. 1, 2 vvand 3, whereina matl isprovided with side recesses 9 ,and I,0,.acrossf,a11 .of the 4.slots'Z and 3 with one ormorestrips I, I,l of .leatherLrubben' flexible..plastic, ,or evenpmetal, Y`orany other suitable .material,p,so that v,the side 1I2 with which these.4` strips l I lpreferably',liejiiush `.may betiiexed as Lshovvnin'..Egure(.2. It .is `quite ,evidentthat the strips II Will"limit"lexure of the Vmatto a certain curved position beyond which it will not be possible to bend the mat because the strips will prevent the individual slotted members I3 from having the upper edges of their slots 2 and 3 separated beyond a predetermined small distance controlled by said strips.

A modication of mat I is shown in Figure 4, in which the mat or other flexible member I has not only the upper strips II, II, but also lower strips at the bottom at I4, I4, preferably of very flexible material, such as soft skin or rubber;

Thus .memberior mat I or one ofthe sets of the strips on one side may be of leather, rubber, paper or metal, etc., While the other strips on the opposite Vside should then be of rubber, soft skin or fabric, etc.V When two strips are present having appropriately balanced characteristics, as just mentioned, flexure is possible inrboth upward and downward directions, while flexure will also be limited in both directions. In addition, it is obvious that thewhole article could be covered with various materials, such as plastic or rubber or fabric I5, which is actually shown in Figure 4, but this feature may be omitted if desired. Y

Another modification of service whichV is feasible is shown in Figure 5, in which the mat or flexible member I has a strip I6 embedded intermediately between the upper and lower surfaces molded,l cemented, glued, nailed, riveted,screwed' or otherwise fastened to the portions of the ilexible member with which they are in contact, and

Awe are not limited to any particular means for fastening the strips to said exible member or slotted resilient object.

'Ihe iiexible member embodying the invention may., Vif desired, have slots which are neither Vstraight nor directly perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the member or article, but may be sinuously curved, or at an angle other than' a right angle with respect to the side edges of the article.v For example, the mat or other flexible Vmember ll may have sinuous, curved or arcuate slots which may be disposed at any practical angle with respect to the side edges and we-are jnotlimited to either the shape or the angle, nor

even the number of slots used on a side.

In Vview of the actual scope of the main principles of the invention, the slotted material or the article may be of any desired shape and is not limited to the substantially rectangular shape shown in Fig. 1. Thus we propose to embody the same not only in toy sh, snakes, houses, boats,

. dolls, etc., but any form of animal either marine or land animal whether biped or quadruped, or

bird or reptile, may be simulated while the slots Y are provided according to the same general principles. However, it will be understood that we are' not limited `to toys but we may apply the Y invention to any article of utility and even build up new articles which will be feasible to produce `because of the presence of the slots and thenormally stii nature of the material actually used.

It has been indicated that the exble member Vis slotted in order to'render the same flexible,

' practical manner in the flexible member. On the other hand, the flexible sheets or strips included to prevent excessive exure may partly or completely cover said flexible; member and may or may not itself be slotted and preferably consists of leather, skin, rubber or rubber compound.

Y cardboard, ber, fabric, metal, YVinylite plastics,

or any other exible plastic material. The mate` `rial partly or completely covering the flexible member may be applied temporarily or permanently and in the case of plastics and rubber, etc.,

Y the same actually penetrating into the individual slots if so desired. V

From the foregoing it will be clearly evident Vthat the invention lends itself to many forms of application in many arts,- and may be modified in actual form, outline, cross section, in longitudinal dimensions, etc., and the-result will in all cases be approximately the same, namely that, in view of the broad principle herein we reserve the right to make further modifications not shown, but would rather indicate that those forms actually shown and described are merely representative of many elds which have merely been touched upon above.

Having now fullydescribed our invention, we Y terial but stop-ping short of the opposite side edge,

the second series of slots extending from the opposite side edge inwardly across the major portion of the width of the material and alternating with the first series of slots but stopping short` of the'other side edge, Vsaid series of slots render-` ing the normally stiff and inflexible material flexible but not to the extent wherein the toy or other article of commerce loses its original identity or function as such, and a strip of flexible material disposedin a recess along each of two opposite edges of said material and bridging the slotted portions of said toyor other article of manufacture so as to prevent excessive flexure thereof. l HENRY GHEZ.

OSCAR GHEZ. 

